Big Homegroup 2020: George Whitefield

Well, we're thinking about George Whitfield. But back in the eighteenth century, remember, we learned some general stuff about him. You can turn your chairs around if you want to. General stuff about him. This is the second.

I think it was recorded last week, so you can pick up that if you weren't here. I wanna particularly think about his preaching because primarily, George Whitfield was a preacher. In fact, as I said last week, seem to be very booming. I think I've got a 90 decibel voice. He had 90 decibel voice.

There we go. Yes. He primarily was a preacher. And as I said last week, as soon as he was converted, basically from that point on, his whole life was 1 single sermon. He spent more time preaching than in bed.

So he he he was a was a preacher. He probably He probably was the person who was known more than anybody else in the eighteenth century in the time that he lived. At the time, he was called the Marvel of the Age, and he was capable of commanding vast audiences. You know, it said that the largest audience he spoke to, this is without any amplification, was 80000 people. It is quite it is quite extraordinary.

He had an utter passion in all his preaching to bring people to conversion. We know from his studies at university at Oxford, he wasn't really a scholar, but he was outstanding. In his ability to communicate the gospel. It was said of him Whitfield possessed dramatic sensitivity that quickly vaulted him into a class of his own. I don't think there was any there were great preachers that rose up around him.

I mean, great preachers that rose up around him are tell you about some of them next week perhaps. But he really was the pinnacle of of great preaching. He transformed the pulpit into what was called a sort of like sacred theater. Because he when he preached, he would represent the characters in the bible as as, you know, theatrical characters, he would you know, to wrack them out. And Adam said to Eve and it would it would be be like that.

In fact, 1 famous British actor David Garrick declared, I would give a hundred guineas if I could say, oh, like mister Whitfield. I mean, I don't know how he said that, but oh, I mean that's well, shouldn't it? But how he said, oh, I'd love just to hear that. Soon, because of his popularity, the the press got hold of him. And he had an instinct for publicity.

He didn't mind publicity. He didn't even mind if the articles were saying bad things about him, which they often were and lies and malicious gossip, actually. He didn't mind that. He realized that the papers generated interest, the interest generated crowds and they would come and hear him for himself. And so he he he knew how to use publicity.

He wasn't a coward on that 1, and whether it was good good articles or bad articles, it didn't really bother him that much because it brought the crowds. He wasn't about himself. There's no way you could accuse Whitfield of just wanting crowds because he wanted to be a a popular preacher He wanted crowds undoubtedly, and I think you can see this if you read his life because he wanted them to hear about Christ. I mean, he did say of himself, let the name of Whitfield die with Whitfield. And largely, it did.

People knew know about the Wesley brothers but largely in church history, we don't know about about Whitfield. So Whitfield will make with Charles John and Charles Wesley. John and Charles Wesley, as I told you last week had gone over to Georgia to be missionaries. It was a disaster for them. They invited George Whitfield to come over.

By the time George Whitfield had got to America, they were actually returning. Because they it failed. And so he went over to America. 7 times, he went over to America and he's now come back into England in 17 38, and the churches are closed to him. Remember, he's an Anglo minister but the churches are largely now close to him.

And so this is where he starts looking to preach in outside. JC Ryal writes this, seeing that thousands everywhere would attend no place of worship spent their sundays in idleness of sin and were not to be reached by sermons within walls. He resolved in the spirit of holy aggression to go out after them into the highways and hedges. On his master's principle and compel them to come in. He first did an open air in in Britain, in amongst the miners, the collyers in Kingswood in Bristol in February 17 39.

He prayed hard about this and prayed a lot of the day. He went down to Kingswood onto a little mount there, and he started preaching, and he gathered about a hundred minors, and he preached on Matthew chapter 5 verses 1 to 3. But these miners were affected, and there's a picture of a miner. I don't think it's of his time. But these miners were were affected by this.

And as miners were coming out of the pit more and more hundred joined. And in the end, there were many thousands of people listening to him. His own account of this is very moving. So you've got to remember that these these are white people obviously in Bristol. Their faces are covered with with Cole Sutt, and he says, I love I love this first line.

This first line tells you a lot about him. Having no righteousness of their own to renounce, I mean, that very line tells you he's got the gospel. Because he's he calls on people to renounce their righteousness. Not, you know, not be righteous, renounce it. You need Christ's righteousness.

Anyway, having no righteousness of their own to renounce, they were glad to hear of Jesus. Who was a friend of Republicans and came not to call the righteous but sinners to repent. The first discovery of their being affected was the sight of the white gutters made by their tears. Which plentifully fell down their black cheeks as they came out of the coal pits. Hundreds of them were soon brought under deep conviction, which, as the event proved, happily ended in sound and thorough conversion.

And he goes on and says he knows that they were converted because things started to happen. They stopped swearing, they stops stealing and all of that sort of stuff. So from that point on, he was quite convinced that open air preaching was a good thing. 2 months later, in April, 17 39. He's asked to go to London.

He comes to London, Isalworth, sorry, Islington, and he is going to preach in a church. He reads the prayers out. He's an anglican remember. He reads the prayers out, although I'd love to have heard him read the prayers. He reads the prayers out at probably 9 89 decibels, and the church Warden is offended.

And the church Warden seems to have power to to say who's allowed to preach in the church building. He asks Whitfield publicly. This is a crowded church. Where's your license for preaching? And he hasn't got a license.

For preaching in London. And so the churchwarden chucks him out. But what do you do? Because there's hundreds of people turned up to hear Whitfield, And so he preaches in the graveyard. The church warden obviously doesn't have have a jurisdiction over the graveyard.

And he preaches in the graveyard. And from that point on, it really changes a lot of his ministry. He's gonna go to where the crowds are now. In 34 years of ministry, talking about him being a preacher, it's reckoned that he preached publicly 18000 times, but you've got to add all the other types of preaching that were going on. And it's it's almost definitely 30000 times that he preached in 34 years.

He preached to his estimated at least 10000000 people face to face. I don't know what Billy Graham pre how many how many face to face Billy Graham had. But I doubt if it's, you know, it's it's much more than that, although it'd be worth finding out. I know that up until bill Graham. He was he was a man no no man had ever spoken to that many people.

His regular preaching worker, let me just give you this, is regular preaching work in the winter season when he was in London. Is just unbelievable. So he wasn't doing so much field preaching, although he would do open air preaching outside his door because 20000 people would turn up. But his regular preaching at the Totlam Court Road Tabernacle, which was built for him because he wasn't allowed in Anglo church He Well, this this was it. Just have a listen to this.

Right? You ready? Right? Staff, you listening? Every Sunday morning, he administered the Lord's supper to several hundred communicants at 6 30 in the morning.

After this, he read prayers and preached both morning and afternoon. Then he preached again in the evening at 5 30. And concluded, this is his Sunday, by addressing I love this. By addressing a large society of widows married people, young men, and spinsters, all sitting in separate areas of the tabernacle. With exhortation suitable to the respective stations.

I love that. He's preaching away and he says, right now you spinsters. And then write you young men and write you married couples. And you know, it's just an amazing thing. So that was his Sunday.

Okay? Now, get this. On Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday morning, he preached regularly at 6 o'clock in the morning. On Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday evenings, he delivered lectures, which were basically a preach. And then, plus all his correspondence, meeting of people, 1 to ones, and small group work.

So that's what he was doing in the winter when he couldn't get out in the field preaching. He was primarily a preacher. Primarily a preacher. Remember his sermons weren't little 10 minute sermons that you get at cream tea. I don't think he would know what that meant.

His sermons sometimes were 5 hours long. Okay? So don't moan at me. In fact, I looked up I I went into Tom's office just to rebuke him, because I looked up the day that we, you know, February whenever it was the other day, and it said, preached from 5 till 9. Much liberty, you know.

It's it's extraordinary. So he was primary a preacher, but He preached to everyone everywhere. So we've already seen he preached in the open air. That meant he went to people that were in fields, like fairs, fairgrounds. He would go to those places where there were crowds and preach but also crowds would come to him.

And so he would preach there. He preached in prisons, He preached to public hangings. Well, what a what a, you know, thing to preach at. He preached to the minors as we've just just seen. But he also was able to preach to the rich and elite and the aristocracy.

Lady Huntington, who is you know, worth a talk herself. And a biography of late lady hunting that I I did have it. I lent it to somewhere. I don't know who's got it. Well, I think I do know.

Lady Huntington was a very rich aristocrat who supported the revival in this country and supported Whitfield with money. In fact, she made Whitfield her chaplain, because he couldn't get in as an anglican to various places, but because she was an aristocracy she was aristocracy and had power, then she made him his his his chaplain, so he could get into play places, and she could build a building for him to preach. And she did a lot of stuff. Loads of She started up her own preachers, school in Wales, trained up pre it was fantastic, actually. She said she's an amazing woman.

Her biography by It's gone out of my mind now. Anyway, her, which I think I think you've got Phil. I lent it to you, but I didn't give it to you. Yeah. Yeah.

I'm thinking about it. Anyway, someone's got it. It's a great biography that I used to own. Someone's stolen it off me. What?

It's still doing it. Yeah. It's just I haven't seen it for some time. Yeah. Fair enough.

Anyway, forget all that. But Lady Huntington, She used to invite the aristocracy, the high ranking sort of people from politics and literature and that sort of stuff into her her homes that she had scattered all around the country, her drawing rooms, and got Whitfield to preach. So he was preaching to high power people, top politicians of of the day, and the aristocracy. So here's Lord Bolingbrook, his name is. He's described as he he's he's a man described as having tremendous pride, great ability, and overbearing manner, and sat looking at Whitfield.

This is a description. It's not my description. Satt looking at Whitfield like a self righteous archbishop. Right? But when he heard Whitfield, he was broken.

He was astounded. This is in a drawing room, Lady Huntington's drawing room. He wrote to Lady Hunting afterwards and said mister Whitfield is the most extraordinary man of our times. He has the most commanding eloquence. I have ever heard in any person.

His abilities are very considerable. His zeal, unquenchable. His piety, excellent, genuine, unquestionable. The bishops An inferior orders of clergy are very angry with him, an endeavor to represent him as a hypocrite and an enthusiast. But this is not astonishing.

There is so little real goodness or honesty among them. So, lord Chesterfield, Another high ranking man wrote after 1 of these drawing room meetings, mister Whitfield's eloquence is unrivaled, his zeal inexhaustible. And not to admire both would argue a total absence of taste an insensibility not to be coveted by anybody. So it's interesting. Those 2 blokes Remember last week, I told you about the moral atmosphere of the day.

It was it was, you know, like the sewer. Those 2 blokes were members of a club that was for aristocracy, that was around London and actually out, which is sort of all over the place in the end called the Hell Fire Club. We we we saw it, and we're in High Wickham. There was a cave where the hellfire club used to used used to meet. These were Aristocracies that parroted church, but in immorality.

Prosecutors there, drunkenness, they used to dress up as as bible characters to mock it. They used to do satanic rituals and that sort of stuff. The the hellfire club. Well, Lord Bolingbrook and lord Chesterfield were members of the Hell Fire Club. And yet, when they heard Whitfield, You know, that it was astounding.

David Huey, may well have heard of him. He was an he's an was an agnostic philosopher. He was 1 of Whitfield's heroes. He said mister Whitfield is the most ingenious preacher I have ever heard. It is worth going 20 miles to hear him.

You remember 20 miles is a is a phase journey. To get to hear him. Handle. So Handle, who wrote the famous Handle Messiah, was an acquaintance and friend of Lady Hunting. Although there's no record of him meeting Whitfield, it's it's almost impossible to think that he didn't because Lady Huntington would have got them together.

So maybe that 1 of those best pieces of music ever written handles Messiah was influenced by George Whitfield. I like to think that. So if you go to America, Benjamin Franklin, who is a founding father of America and a polymath. He was a politician and a writer and a mathematician and a scientist. He was very big friends.

With with Whitfield. So Whitfield's a preacher. He could preach to all types of people, rich, famous, poor, miners outside, inside dining rooms, in fields, in churches. He was a preacher. In fact, there's a story that has a lot of testimony to it, that a boy in a pub who was a mimic.

He could mimic famous people. In a pub, and they're all drunk in London. And they say, 1 of the drunks says, mimic Whitfield for us. And he stands up on a bench and mimics a Whitfield sermon. So good that all of the blokes in the public converted.

So that's Whitfield. Yeah? Don't know why we don't just write his sermons out. So the third thing I want to say is sermons. Think about his sermons.

JC Ryle helpfully sort of puts a number of headings, and I'll just take those headings to to show you what his sermons were about really pure gospel. That's the first heading. Pure gospel. In other words, he didn't really talk about anything else. He wasn't talking about his causes and interests.

He he he was about telling people, he would go for it, he would go for the pure gospel. He would talk about your sins. He didn't mind saying that. It wasn't just our sins or we're sinners. You are a sinner.

Yeah. And he talked about your sins and your heart and you need Christ. Oh, the righteousness of Jesus Christ, he frequently said. He said, I must be excused. If I mention the righteousness of Jesus Christ in almost every sermon.

So pure gospel. In fact, on 1 occasion, he was in a church in America and preaching for a week. And on Monday he preached, you must be born again. And on Tuesday he preached, you must be born again. And on Wednesday he preached, you must be born again.

And on Thursday, he preached, you must be born again. And then a bloke in the church said, blimey. You know, is have you only got 1 sermon? You know, why do you why do you keep on preaching? You must be born again.

And he said, because you must be born again. And so he preached that again on the next the next night. So it was a simple gospel. It was a pure gospel. JC Royal next heading is lucid and simple.

So you may not like his his preaching. You may not like his doctrine, but you could not fail to understand what he meant. And that's what he was about. His style was easy and it was plain. And so the consequences were that people knew what he meant.

They may not like it, and lots didn't. I mean, maybe next week, I'll deal with some of the persecution, but there was some awful persecution and some haters of him, of course. Someone said this, and this is worth preachers knowing. To make easy things seem hard is easy. To make hard things seem easy is the office of a great preacher.

And that's definitely him. I have come to speak to you about your soul, he would say. Just cut straight on with it. No mincing, his words, no beating about the bush, He was clever at understanding the sin of the day. He worked out what were the dangers of the people in that sin, and he went for it.

He went for that sin, and he went for the hearts that were going towards that sin. In order to to rescue. So hundreds of people out there, you know, people knew what he was saying. And and and They would often say things like, did he write this sermon for me? He was speaking to me.

There were 20000 people here, but it was like he was speaking to me. And he would do this. So often he would say, this is for you, this is for you, this is for you, and now here has got that. It's for me. Yeah.

I'm that man. On 1 occasion, an old man I'm gonna find this encouraging, that some old man would fall asleep in front of a 90 decibel bloke, who could be heard 2 miles away. But this bloke fell asleep actually at the front in when he was in a church building. And so Whitfield was not happy with this. He stopped, and his whole face changed apparently.

And his whole tone changed. And he said, if I had come to speak to you in my own name, you may well rest your elbows on your knees and your head on your hands and sleep. And once in a while, look up and say, what is this Babler talking of? But I have not come in my own name. No.

I have come in the name of the Lord of hosts, and at that point, apparently, he brought his foot up and his hand up and banged it down so held that the congregation all woke up, and this old man sort of spat his teeth out almost. And then Whitfield said, fixing his eyes on him. You were awake at last. And about time. I have not come here to speak to stocks and stones.

I've come here here in the name of the Lord of hosts and I must and I will have an audience. Now, he's not doing that because he's an arrogant man. Although some would blame accuse him of that. He's not doing that because he's written a little talk and wants people to listen. He's doing it because he believed.

That this was the word of the living God. And if you're asleep in it, you will die in your sin. He was lucid. He was simple. He was passionate.

But he used powerful descriptions. He could turn men's ears into eyes. He drew vivid pictures so that his heroes saw what he was saying. And heard as if they were at the the point. So remember Lord Chesterfield, he was 1 of Lady Huntington's acquaintances.

He was 1 in the hellfire club on hearing him preach on describing a blind beggar. Lord Chesterton writes that He describes the night as dark and this lone figure walking along, and his dog has deserted him, and all he has is a cane, and he blind, and he's coming near a cliff. And Law Chesterton said, and he described this this unfolding, this graphic, powerful story of this man who is about to fall over the cliff. And as he was describing, Lord chested himself was so taken up. He actually rushed at law at George Whitfield, and said, he's gone.

He's gone. He's gone over the cliff. And then suddenly realized that this was a sermon. And the bloke wasn't real. But then Whitfield says, that's how blind you are with your sin.

You need to turn to Christ. That's a that's that's a hellfire club man. At the end of a sermon that David Hume heard and write about. At the end of the sermon, this is right at the end of the sermon, so it may well have been an hour long or however. He says after a solemn pause, Mister Whitfield thus addressed his numerous auditory.

This is how he addressed it. The attack because because and this is right. Where the word of God is preached, there is an angel. This angel is crowded in here now. And he says this.

The attendant angel is just about to leave the threshold of a sanctuary and ascend to heaven. Shall he ascended and not bear with him the news of 1 sinner among all this multitude reclaimed from the errors of his ways. And then David Hume says, to give the greater effect to this preaching. He stamped with his foot. He lifted his hands and his eyes to heaven.

Gushing with tears, cried. Stop, Gabriel, stop. Stop, don't go yet. There might be 1 here. It's such good preaching, isn't it?

It's such good preaching. There's Whitfield. Let's have a listen to another spiritual song. This is the Golden Gate quartet again. This well could have been written after that sermon.

Stop Gabriel. Stop. Have a listen to this. When Gabriel blows his horn. That's what that song is.

So just finish. His message consisted of 5 principles, says j I Packer, a theologian of our century. Face of God, is number 1. So he would say, and I'm quoting Whitfield, before ever, you can speak peace to your hearts. You must be brought to see, brought to believe what a dreadful thing it is to depart from the living God.

The face of God, is he for you or against you. Before ever you can speak peace to your heart, Gosh, don't we need to hear that today? Face God, the face of God. Know yourself. Here we are again, his Whitfield.

Before salvation can be known, you must be made to see, made to feel, made to weep over, made to be wail, your actual transgressions against the law of a holy God. You need to be born again. Third thing, see Jesus. Would you have peace with God? A way then to God through Jesus Christ, who has purchased peace.

The Lord Jesus has shed his heart's blood for this. He died for this. He rose again for this. He ascended into the highest heaven and is now interceding at the right hand of God. Face God, know yourself, see Jesus, and understand justification.

Behold. What man could not do Sorry. Behold what man could not do. Jesus Christ, the son of God, did, go to him, grasp hold of grace. What a great encouragement to us, to preach the gospel, to be bold, and to pray for preachers that we would have opportunities to preach that same message.

So on our tables, just for a few minutes. Let's thank God for Whitfield, and that the Lord would raise up preachers. You can pay for those of us that are preaching this Sunday. I'm preaching in the morning, and we have Philip Grove preaching in the evening? Or wouldn't it be terrific if the Lord would open hearts up and bring people to the Lord Jesus Christ?

As it seems that someone came to know the Lord on Sunday morning. So, you know, the Lord is is good. Let's pray that will be happening every week. So let's pray for a few minutes.